Metronome



March 6, 1956 R. WITTNER METRONOME Filed July 51, 1953 INVEIHTOR.

AGI

United States Patent 2,737,011 METRONOME Rudolf Wittner, Isny, Allgau, Germany Application July 31, 1953, Serial No. 371,692 3 Claims. (Cl. 58-430) The present invention relates to metronomes.

More particularly, the present invention relates to the frames of metronomes for supporting the moving parts thereof.

As is well known, metronomes include a pendulum and a spring drive means for moving the pendulum back and forth usually through the medium of an escapement cooperating with a toothed wheel. All of the moving parts of known metronomes are carried by a frame which includes extensions, bridges, and the like for supporting the turning shafts which carry the metronome parts. With these known arrangements it is necessary to connect separate parts to the frame through threads, rivets, Weiding, etc. The manufacture of these individual parts as well as their assembly is time consuming and moon-- venient, aside from the fact that skilled labor is required to assemble these parts.

One of the objects of the present invention is to over come the above disadvantages by providing a metronome with an exceedingly simple construction which does not require any complicated assembly of parts.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a supporting frame, for all parts of the metronome, which is made out of one piece of rigid materiai.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the parts of a metronome constructed in accordance with the present invention, the outer housing of the metronome being eliminated from Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view of the structure of Fig. l as seen from the right hand side thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown therein a metronome which includes the frame 1, the spring housing 2, and the gear 3, these parts 2 and 3 being mounted on the shaft 4. Also, an escapement 5 is pro vided to cooperate with the toothed wheel 6. The escapement 5 is connected to the shaft 7 while the toothed wheei 6 is located on the shaft 8 which also carries a pinion J meshing with the gear 3 so that the turning of gear 3 drives the toothed wheel 6 to operate the metronome in cooperation with the escapement 5 in a known way. The shaft 7 which carries the escapement 5 also carries the pendulum 10 provided with a weight 11 and a slide 12 which may be adjusted along the scale 13 on the pendulum 10 to regulate the rate of swinging of the pendulum it} and thereby set the timing.

According to the invention the support for all of the turning and swinging parts is formed from a one-piece frame member 1. To turnably support the shaft 4, the frame member 1 is provided with a pair of opposite in tegral side extensions 14 which are bent downwardly and each of which has a forwardly extending projection beneath the top of plate 1, these projections serving to turnably carry the shaft 8.

A tongue 15, forming a bearing for one end of the shaft 7, is struck downwardly from the material of the frame 1 and is located between the extensionsld adjacent to the escapement 5. The front end of the frame 1 is substantially U-shaped and formed with a cutout through which the pendulum 10. extends, this cutout extending to the fiat top part of frame 1, as is evident from Fig; 2. The U-shaped forward end of frame 1 provides. abent edge portion of the frame in theform of a bridge 16 located opposite tongue 15 and supporting the other end of shaft 7 which carries the pendulum 10.

It is evident that this construction requires no loose parts, for bearings and the like, which have to be threadedly connected, riveted or welded, as by spot welding, to the frame.

The structure of the invention is suitable for metronomes of many difierent types such as metronomes with or without bells, with or without light signals, with spring or any other drives, and further with aural or optical transmission of the metronomic value.

it will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of metronomes differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in metronome frames, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be Letters Patent is:

1. In a metronome, in combination, a one-piece frame member having a flat base plate portion, having a pair of narrow arms projecting from one end and from opposite sides of said base plate portion, said arms being located in a plane spaced from said base plate portion and being integrally connected at one end, respectively, to said base plate portion by connecting portions bent out of the plane of said base plate portion, said frame member having a connecting bar integral with and extending between the other ends of said arms in a plane inclined to said plane of said arms, said frame member hav ing further a pair of opposite side extensions integral with said base plate portion and extending therefrom substantially normal thereto, and having a tongue struck out from the material of said base plate portion and located between said side extensions and opposite said connecting bar in a plane substantially parallel to said bar.

2. For use in a metronome, a one-piece frame memher which is flat over more than half of its length and U-shaped over the remainder of its length, said member being formed with a cutout extending from said U- shaped to said flat part thereof, a pair of integral opposite side extensions extending from said fiat part of said memher and each having an integral projection distant from said fiat part of said member and extending toward said U-shaped part thereof, and said frame member having a tongue struck from the material thereof and located secured by Fatented Mar. 6, 1956- between said extensions and opposite an end portion of said frame member at said U-shaped part thereof.

3. In a metronome, in combination, a one piece frame member having a fiat base plate portion, having a pair of narrow arms projecting from one end and from opposite sides of said base plate portion, said arms being located in a plane spaced from said base plate portion and being integrally connected at one end, respectively, to said base plate portion by connecting portions bent out of the plane of said base plate portion, said frame member having a connecting bar integral with and extending between the other ends of said arms in a plane inclined to said plane of said arms, said frame member having further a pair of opposite side extensions integral with said base plate portion and extending therefrom substan- 15 tially normal thereto and having a tongue struck out from the material of said base plate portion and located between said side extensions and opposite said connecting bar in a plane substantially parallel to said bar; a pair of substantially parallel shafts respectively extending between and being turnably carried by said side extensions; and a third shaft substantially normal to said two parallel shafts and extending between and carried by said tongue and said connecting bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,041,342 Hogenbirk May 19, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 162,004 Great Britain Apr. 18, 1921 777,771 France Dec. 5, 1934 279,652 Switzerland Mar. 17, 1952 

